Quake in 1960 scarred Town Hall

AN earthquake on October 20, 1960, left a large vertical crack on the back of Mackay's old Town Hall.

The most severe quake recorded in Mackay is still described as ''slight'' by seismologists and measured 4.5 on the Richter scale.

It had an epicentre 80km (50 miles) south-east of Mackay. Mackay has had several tremors since European settlement, but none were as powerful as the Banda Sea tremor which rocked Darwin on Wednesday night, measuring 7.1.

Daily Mercury reports in 1960 told of people woken from their sleep and some damage to people's crockery.

The crack in the Town Hall was found later.

The Whitsundays received a shake-up on August 2, 1985, with a quake centred 150km north-east of Proserpine and measuring 4.5.

Tremors were reported in Bowen, Collinsville, Mackay and the islands.

Earth tremors were first reported near Mackay at Nebo in 1875.

Residents reported a noise like thunder and fish rising to the surface in their water bowls.

Seismologist for Geoscience Australia, Spiro Spiliopoulos, said Queensland was less likely to have earth tremors than other areas, but the reason why was still being investigated.

Tremors in Australia usually were related to intra-plate movements, Mr Spiliopoulos said, whereas volatile parts of the world like Japan lay near the edge of continental plates.

Tremor-prone areas in Australia are the Flinders Rangers in South Australia, south-west Western Australia and parts of southeast Australia.